The Mystery of the Magic Circle - M. V. Carey [16]
He waited. The candle lights moved beneath the twisted trees. Then the movement stopped and the candles glowed steadily. And there were more lights.
“I’m going in closer,” said Jupe into the walkie-talkie. “You stay just where you are for the moment.”
He released the button on the radio and slipped out from behind the manzanita.
He half-slid down the hillside until he reached level ground behind the Bainbridge house. Then, like a chubby shadow, he stole from bush to bush until he was at the edge of the stand of oak trees. He paused, looking towards the candle flames that burned inside the grove. There were dozens of lights now, forming a circle, and for a moment Jupe could see only the candles against the darkness that pressed in around them. Then, beyond the candles appeared a woman who stared straight ahead into the night. It was Madeline Bainbridge. Her long, white-blonde hair was loose on her shoulders, and she wore a wreath of flowers on her head. She moved slowly forward into the circle of light.
There was a movement beyond Madeline Bainbridge. A second woman appeared out of the darkness. She carried a tray that was heaped high with fruit. It was the woman Jupe had seen with Madeline Bainbridge that afternoon. Jupe knew she must be Clara Adams. She entered the circle of light and put the tray down on a table draped with a black cloth.
Another face glimmered in the dark wood. It was Marvin Gray. He, too, wore a wreath of flowers on his dark hair. Jupe realized that he could scarcely see Gray’s body. The man wore a black robe. So did the two women. They were invisible in the night except for their faces and for the circlets of flowers that crowned their heads.
“I will draw the circle,” intoned Marvin Gray. His hands moved, white against his black robe. The blade of a knife glinted in the candlelight.
Jupe backed away from the ghostly woods and the strange trio under the branches.
When he felt it was safe to speak, he pressed the button on his walkie-talkie. “Pete?
Bob? I’m in the field just behind the grove. I’m pretty sure there’s a Sabbat going on here.”
“Be right there,” said Bob.
“Me, too,” Pete said.
Pete appeared in a very few minutes, coming as quietly as a ghost. Then Bob came stealing towards them through the night.
“There are only three people, but they’re getting ready for some sort of ceremony,” Jupe told his friends. “Marvin Gray has a knife.”
“I read about that today,” said Bob. “He’ll draw a circle on the ground with the knife. Witches believe that the circle increases their power.”
“Let’s watch,” said Jupiter.
Bob and Pete silently followed Jupe in among the trees, looking nervously ahead.
What strange rites were they about to witness? They saw the three white-faced people standing in the ring of candlelight. They saw Madeline Bainbridge lift a cup high and close her eyes as if she were praying. The boys held their breath.
Then, suddenly, Pete uttered a small, wordless cry of terror. For out of the darkness, some silent-footed beast had come to stand beside him. For an instant the creature was still. Pete could feel its hot breath on him. Then it growled, low and ominously.
Chapter 8
Murder by Magic?
“WHAT’S THAT?” cried Marvin Gray. “Who’s there?”
The three boys froze, and the growling went on and on.
Clara Adams put her hands to her mouth and gazed out from the circle of light.
Madeline Bainbridge did not move. She was like a carving in ivory and ebony. From somewhere beneath his black robe, Marvin Gray pulled out a flashlight. He charged towards The Three Investigators and the flashlight snapped on. Jupe saw that the animal standing near Pete was a dog — the sleek Doberman he had seen that afternoon. Obviously the animal had been trained to hold intruders motionless, but not to attack unless greatly provoked; it made no more to harm Pete.
“What do you boys think you’re doing here?” demanded Gray.
Jupe felt Gray’s gaze on him and his heart sank. How could he explain to this man that Beefy Tremayne’s young cousin, who